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The faces that fit generally have a distinguished record of academic publication, and more often than not some experience running a research institution. In this sense, Horst Soboll is an unlikely person to be heading up the EU’s most senior advisory body on science policy, the European Research Advisory Board (EURAB). He is not an academic, he does not have a distinguished research record and if he has a speciality at all it is science policy and the management of research and development (R&D).

But then the landscape of European research policy is changing. The EU is in the process of creating a European Research Council (ERC) that will take charge of basic, curiosity-driven research, whether with EU funds or getting the nations of Europe to pull together with their national programmes. The ERC’s scientific council is becoming the centre of attention for those who want to act on behalf of basic science, and it is because of this that Soboll finds himself in charge of the EURAB.

The previous head, Helga Nowotny, announced in February that she would be abandoning ship in mid-term to concentrate her energy on being vice-chair of the ERC’s scientific council. A social scientist with a distinguished academic record, Nowotny is much more the accepted idea of what an EU science adviser should be. The other members of the 45-member EURAB, from academia and industry, elected her to the chair when it was formed in 2001, and again when its mandate was renewed in 2004.

From the beginning Nowotny insisted on the independence of EURAB, in particular appointing an independent scientific secretary to work alongside the officials provided by the Commission. She has also used her position to fight for higher funding, for instance rallying the scientific community to lobby for an increased EU research budget during last year’s debate on the financial perspectives.

Soboll was also appointed to the first incarnation of EURAB, among the 20 members proposed by UNICE, the European employers’ federation, and was subsequently one of its two vice-chairmen. There is a sense of continuity in his appointment, and Nowotny is the first to endorse her successor.

“I expect Horst’s leadership to be different in style – we are very different personalities – but not really in substance,” she says. “EURAB can be proud of its achievement in bringing academia and industry together. Therefore, I view Horst’s election as one where the person was the first consideration and whether he or she comes from academia or industry really very secondary.”

Born in Chemnitz in 1944, Soboll studied physics at Giessen University, taking a doctorate in 1973. From then until 1989 he worked in computer software for the US company Control Data Corporation in Frankfurt and Hamburg, before moving to the research and technology department of DaimlerChrysler. Again he worked in information and communication technology, before moving to the strategic side of the company’s research effort. In 1995 he become the company’s director of technology policy and in 2002 its director of research policy and communications.

While this is not the same as running a research institution, the scale of DaimlerChrysler’s R&D effort makes it a position of considerable importance. In 2004-05 the company had an R&D budget of around €5.8 billion, the largest of any company worldwide according to an international scoreboard compiled for the UK government, with research sites in the US, India and China, as well as around Germany.

From his position in DaimlerChrysler, Soboll gradually became involved in European policymaking, first sitting on committees dealing with automotive sector research and sustainable transport, then moving on to broader industry forums. Most significantly, in 2000, he became chairman of UNICE’s research, technology and innovation group, a position he held until early this year.

This group is responsible for formulating industry positions on EU research and innovation policy and as its chair Soboll was frequently called on to present these positions to the European Commission or the European Parliament. These included issues such as the target for raising investment in R&D to 3% of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2010, the negotiations over the 6th framework programme for research and state aid for research.

Perhaps inevitably, his activities for EURAB have focused on the same areas. He has chaired working groups on boosting investment in R&D to 3% and encouraging private-sector R&D in Europe. In addition he has sat on groups dealing with international co-operation, the role of universities, the financial perspectives and the instruments of the 7th Framework research programme.

Whether speaking for UNICE or EURAB, Soboll tends to be pragmatic in his public statements. He has voiced support for the European Research Council, on condition that it is not funded at the expense of the EU programmes that support industry-relevant research. And he is naturally sympathetic to the Commission’s ambitions for a European Institute of Technology (EIT), urging less negativity and a more constructive consideration of what it has to offer. In January, before the latest round of Commission proposals, he called for progress to be made on the EIT by sifting the various views, but with a focus on specific fields of scientific research that it might address, following the example of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

According to colleagues this is typical of Soboll, who is happiest when discussions are moving rapidly along. “As an engineer, he likes to see the machine moving,” says one. Most agree with Nowotny that he has a different personal style, and attribute this to his background in computer science in contrast to hers in the social sciences. But he is far from the stereotype of the dry, distant engineer. “He engages well with everyone,” says Ian Halliday, president of the European Science Foundation and EURAB’s academic vice-chairman. “He is very open, very willing to discuss, and willing to say ‘I don’t understand’, which is very useful in these situations.”

Also at odds with Soboll’s background in the automotive industry is that he is an enthusiastic long-distance cyclist, never happier than when on the road from his home in Frankfurt to Rome or Santiago de Compostela.

Since Soboll took over as chairman in February, EURAB has published just two opinions, one on the new EIT proposal, the other on international research co-operation. But among its priorities for the future are issues where Soboll seems particularly appropriate as a leader. One is an investigation into the different ways research is managed, and that management is assessed, across European organisations. Another is a study into new trends in knowledge diffusion that might better support innovation.

Having served two terms on EURAB, Soboll will have to stand down when it is next renewed in mid-2007. In any case, he has now retired from his position at DaimlerChrysler and as an “independent research policy consultant” he is probably too far from the board’s ideal to retain his position, despite his long experience. But with the work EURAB has in hand, he has time enough to make his mark.

The CV

1944: Born Chemnitz, Germany

1969: Degree in physics, Giessen University

1973: Doctorate in physics

1973: Joins Control Data Corporation in Germany

1989: Joins DaimlerChrysler research and technology

1995: Becomes director of technology policy

2000: Chairman of UNICE Research Technology and Innovation Group

2001: Vice-president European Industrial Research and Management Association